inReach Moving Maps

[NotAMog]

I used my REI dividend to get an inReach unit to use with my iPhone and iPad. After registering the unit everything seems to be.working OK except the GPS function in the Earthmate application. Occasionally I'll get a GPS position but most of the time it just indicates "Acquiring GPS" at the top of the screen. Is this normal? I had expected that it would provide my WiFi only iPad with moving map functionality based on what I read.


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[xplrn42]

Mine took a while to acquire a signal the first time out. I exited the app and got a gps fix in "motionX" and then went back into Earthmate (x3), and eventually got a signal. No problems connecting after that.

It should do as you say, I couldn't tell, however, if my iPhone was using the inReach GPS or phone GPS.

I used my dividend as well...

 

[NotAMog]

It acquires a GPS position as long as I'm not moving. When I try it in the car with the unit under a steeply racked windshield it will update on the map a couple of times then display that it's acquiring GPS. Standing still, the best accuracy is +- 224'. Even my ancient hand held GPS will give 13' or better under the same conditions. I'm suspecting there is something wrong with the GPS in the unit. It will track points but I can't say how accurate they are.

 

[xplrn42]

Thats too bad, I agree something doesn't sound right, once mine acquired a signal it held with no drops and kept within 13'.

 

[greg.potter]

I am not positive, but I think the aquiring signal message may be associated with the inReach communicating with the Iridium satellites - the GPS signal comes from a different satellite system.

In mountainous terrain I have noticed that if I am in a deep valley I can get an "aquiring signal" message and that messages sent don't get sent out while the unit is "aquiring signal".

I have also noticed that the "aquring signal" messagee seems to coincide with the unit not flashing the signal LED which according to the manual (yes I did acually read it), indicates lack of communication to the Iridium satellite network.

Iridium is a LEO (low earth orbit) satellite matrix, so even in deep valleys with limited view of the sky there "should" be times when a satellite is overhead - although coverage could be quite limited in really deep valleys.

In case you haven't noticed Delorme is releasing a new version of the inReach this month with an integral display - undoubtedly this will be more convenient for self propelled activities, but will be missing some of the funtionality provided by the smart phone interface. The good news is that it will still support the smart phone interface so when the additional weight and bulk of your smart phone are not a issue you will still be able to use it.

I am very happy with my InReach, with the exception that for many of my adventures I can't justify the weight of packing a smart phone, so have to rely on the pre-programmed messages only. I am planning on picking up the new inReach SE with the integral screen once it has been on the market for 6-12 months.

As for performance of the GPS function it does not seem as sensitive as my Garmin 62S, but I have seen Earthmate state accuracy to +/- 5 m.

 

[fishbum]

Take your inReach outside so it has a clear sky view, just power it on and let it sit there for 15-20 minutes so the GPS can download a complete, updated GPS Almanac... it's possible that if you don't use the unit regularly it can struggle downloading all the data it needs to acquire a fast fix and to hold that fix even in challenging environments. If you still have trouble acquiring and staying acquired then I would call them to find out what to do...

 

[NotAMog]

I left it outside turned on with a clear view of the sky for a couple of hours with no improvement in the GPS accuracy. I put it in the car without turning it off and went for a short drive. It didn't lose the GPS but the accuracy decreased to +-700-800' and the map updates were only sporadic.

I haven't received any replies from Delorme on my E-mail queries so I'll give them a call today.


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[NotAMog]

After spending some time on the phone with Delorme tech support and doing further research on the related blogs I was able to determine that the inReach is working OK and that the problem is a bug with either the Earthmate app or with IOS. There is some kind of memory bug that manifests itself as poor GPS performance from the inReach unit.

Based on information from one of the blogs, I closed all apps running in the background and completely turned off my iPad. After turning it back on I verified in the "Privacy" settings that "Location Services" were enabled for the Delorme Earthmate app. After that everything worked find when I launched Earthmate. Apparently this can occur whenever there is not enough memory for the app to run correctly. Certainly a nuisance but the above procedure is a quick cure.

This does not affect the accuracy of GPS data sent by the inReach unit with text or SOS messages, tracks, or waypoints.

Hopefully Delorme or Apple will eventually fix this bug.

 

[xplrn42]

Great news.....I guess.

Sorry you had to deal with all the research time to figure it out and hopefully they (Apple/Delorme) work together to fix the bug.

After reading your post, I do recall rebooting my iPhone at some point during the first time out with the inReach. i guess I cleared the memory enough for mine to get a solid lock.

I will defintely keep this in mind for the future though.

 

[agavelvr]

I have not experience the problem you are describing. I throw the inreach in the pocket behind my passenger seat (no clear view of the sky) and it is dead on accurate all the time. I wonder if you have some other app running that is causing a problem.